Look Through My Eyes
by Jenn1
Summary: On Hold. Movieverse and Crossover. Post SM3. When an accident leaves Peter blind, he knows his days of being Spider-Man are over. Can he learn to live with his blindness from someone who knows all too well? Ch. 2 up.
1. Prologue: Along the Path

**Title: **Look Through My Eyes

**Author:** Jenn

**Summary: **Movieverse-Crossover. Post an accident leaves Peter blind, he knows his days of being Spider-Man are over. Can he learn to live with his blindness from someone who knows all too well?

**Rating:** PG-13(T)

**Spoilers: **All three _Spider-Ma_n movies, and the novels. And the movie _Daredevil (director's cut)_.

**Category:** Angst/Crossover. Non-slash.

**Disclaimers:** They're not mine. Marvel owns them. Anyone else not recognizable either from the comics or movies is mine. The title is based of the song _Look Through My Eyes_ by Phil Collins, which I think fits the fic too. Not making one penny for this story. This fic is just for enjoyment.

**Timeline:** Some months after SM3 ends. It's been nearly four and a half years after the events in Daredevil. Not that this is very important, but Daredevil defeated the Kingpin aka Wilson Fisk, about three weeks prior to 9/11, so this fic is now set about Christmastime 2005.

**Note: **As you can see I am basing this story off the movies mostly, with some basis to the comics, so please excuse any mistakes I may have.

I also want to thank **htbthomas** and **Georgia Kennedy** for being the best betas in the world, and some of my greatest friends.

**Dedicated: **This is dedicated to **Mark C**, a wonderful friend, as well as being a big help to me for information on _Daredevil_ and _Spider-Man_, along with your foresight about my story. You also have been a faithful reviewer of my stories, thanks for all of them!

_Thoughts as well as anything else that is important are in italics_.

* * *

_Prologue_

**Along the Path**

* * *

Since it was nearly midnight, the pathways through Central Park were not very crowded.

The young couple who walked hand and hand had hardly spoken a word to each other.

Peter Parker asked quietly as if not to disturb the silence much, "Let's sit down."

His girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson nodded her agreement.

"You were beautiful up there tonight," Peter said referring to her singing at the Jazz Room. He put his arm around her waist.

Mary Jane laughed quietly as she put her head on his shoulder, "You've said that every night you've seen me sing."

"Well, it's because it's true," He planted a kiss on the top of her head. Peter's heart warmed to hear her laugh; the last few days had been hard on both of them.

"I'm surprised they just want me to sing now, and not do any waitressing. At least that will be easier on my feet."

"They believe you're good. I know you're great."

"I guess they weren't kidding when they said love is blind. No, in this case, maybe it's deaf," Mary Jane laughed.

Peter gave her a playful swat on the tip of her nose. "Who's 'they', anyway? _They_ don't know anything. You _are_ good and you know it."

Mary Jane smiled but did not say anything. They sat in silence, just enjoying each other's company.

The past few days, no, week really, had been life-changing for both of them. Everything from the reviews of M.J.'s play, which had gotten her fired. Peter now could understand somewhat why she had not told him.

He had been on cloud nine with his life as Spider-Man, now that the city was finally recognizing him as a hero. That had felt great. Then Spidey Day… and he really had not been thinking, at least not of Mary Jane's feelings when he had let Gwen Stacy kiss him.

True, he had really enjoyed having women attracted to him, both in and out of costume. Even Mary Jane had been interested in the web-slinger at first…

_But she's in love with me, Peter Parker, the boy next door. I am Spider-Man, too. Spider-Man is there to help the city, but Peter Parker is who I really am._

Peter inhaled the sweet strawberry scent that was all Mary Jane. He then let out a light sigh. In thinking about Spidey Day, it brought back everything with the Sandman. _No, his name is Flint Marko. I forgave him, but where is he now? Where did he go?_

"Peter, I wanted to talk about something."

He was brought out of his thoughts with Mary Jane's statement. Taking her hand into his, he asked, "About?"

"When we met here last time…" She stopped, trying to gather her thoughts.

They had talked about a lot of things the last few days, but not about that afternoon that ended in disaster, they both did not want to remember.

"When you showed me that ring, I wasn't really expecting it." then Mary Jane frowned, "That ring almost threw me off the little act Harry had me do to break up with you."

Peter knew that Harry had done something at the time to make Mary Jane break up with him. But he was not upset anymore; he couldn't be after everything that had happened.

She continued, "Do you want to know why I even went through with that charade?"

"You feared for your life?"

"No, Peter!" There were tears in her eyes, but they did not fall. M.J. took a breath and said softly, "I feared for you. Harry never actually said he was going to kill you, but the intent was there, I could see it on his face."

Peter suddenly felt angry with his deceased friend, or more what he had done. M.J. had risked her life for his. Peter knew that Harry's goal as the New Goblin was to kill him. At least it had been before Harry decided to be his friend again.

His anger was gone as fast as it had come. In the end Harry had sacrificed his life for his friends.

He didn't say any of that. "I understand now why you did it. I want you to promise me you'll let me know if you're in trouble like that again, I don't want you to try to handle it yourself."

Mary Jane's green eyes narrowed at that. "I don't know if I can promise that, Peter. But I can promise I'll try."

Peter didn't like that answer, but he knew that's all he would get from her.

"Peter, I love you." She put her hand on his cheek. "And I didn't bring this up to get into a fight."

"Why did you?"

"When you showed me that ring… if it had been any other time, like two weeks ago, I would have said yes in a heartbeat, at least I think I would have."

"And now? Because of what happened, you doubt me?"

"No, I don't doubt you. It's just we've been through so much this past week. And we weren't honest with each other. If we can't trust each other, then what are we standing on, just love?"

Peter lowered her hand from his cheek, and entwined his fingers with hers. "I love you, forever and always. And I forgive you of everything that happened, and I do trust you. You… forgive me… don't you?"

The tears that were still on Mary Jane's lashes started to fall. She lowered her head.

_What do I do? _He worried. He didn't know whether to pull her into his embrace or not… _Maybe M.J. really hasn't forgiven me for what I've done…_

Lifting her head, Mary Jane met his gaze. Her face was damp, one or two tears still staining her cheek, but she was not crying. "When I left John to be with you all those months ago, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew you were Spider-Man, and you had a responsibility to the city. I accepted that and thought I could live with it."

The air in Peter's lungs caught in his throat. His blood ran cold with fear. _She's going to break up with me - for real! Because of Spider-Man. Why?!_

"But it wasn't until I got fired, and you were so popular as Spider-Man, that I realized that the city would always come first for you."

"Mary Jane-"

She raised a hand. "Let me finish." Mary Jane let out a breath before going on. "After everything that has happened… with Harry, and also with the Sandman and Eddie…" M.J. trailed off. "I think we still need more time to be a couple, to date, to really get to know each other before getting married."

Peter let out a breath he did not realize he'd been holding. "You want to wait to get married?" He wanted to make sure he had heard her right.

Mary Jane gave him a look. "That's what I'm saying. I would love nothing more than to marry you, Peter, but we need time. To talk, to live, and go through all the things that couples go through, I mean, long-term couples."

Peter laughed slightly, and at M.J.'s odd look he explained, "Aunt May told me she didn't say yes to Uncle Ben right away when he asked her. She said they couldn't count on just love to get married. She said they needed security, and we do too, but that could be looked at in more ways than one."

"What do you think? We should just enjoy each other's company for now?"

Before Peter could answer he was sure he heard the sound of sirens near by. _Why, oh, why do they come at the worst times?_

He made no move to get up, though he wanted to. He turned back to Mary Jane.

She looked back at him in surprise. "Aren't you going to go?"

"I know I should, but this is important… I don't want to just leave, after what happened last time."

Mary Jane's face turned a bit red. "That was… just go! I'll to talk you later, okay? Call, no matter the time." She tried to push him into going. It might have worked if he had been an ordinary guy.

It did work. Peter went. He had just barely caught her "Go get 'em, Tiger," as he quickly looked for somewhere to change.

* * *

**Notes:** I hope everyone enjoyed this the prologue. Anyone who is still waiting for me to update _Brother_: _Love and Adversity_, I will do that, and soon, hopefully, I promise. It's just this fic has been waiting for years to be written, and I got inspired.

Thanks for reading, please review. _Jenn_


	2. Chapter One: Man in Red

Note: This story takes place a few months after SM3.

_Chapter One_

**Man in Red**

* * *

The crisp December wind bit hard into Matthew Murdock's nose, mouth and chin, the only parts of his face not covered by his crimson cowl. It seemed a lot colder thirty stories above the streets, but Matt was not the least bit fazed. He could still hear the traffic far below. Myriad scents, aromas, and stenches filtered up from the cauldron that was Hell's Kitchen.

It had not been the best of days for Matt. He and Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson, his longtime friend and law partner, had lost a case they should have won. That losses were rare around the law firm of _Nelson and Murdock_ did not lessen the sting of defeat, or the burning sense of injustice that gripped Matt's heart. The scumbag who had just walked out of the courtroom on an obscure legal technicality was going to face justice, Matt vowed silently, one way or another.

Matt recalled his salad days when he and Foggy, fresh out of law school, were going to set the world on fire. After all, neither of them were the naïve, newly minted young barristers they had been so many years ago, even with the advantage of working with Foggy's mother for that first year before they opened their _Nelson_ _and_ _Murdock_ law firm.

As Matt gazed down at the distant streets, not really seeing anything but the outline of the buildings and the racing cars. He tried to remember when he first donned the crimson costume and Man-Without-Fear persona that it symbolized. But the memory had escaped him.

How long had it been? Some days it felt like a lifetime ago, and other days it felt like only yesterday. The lyrics of an old Beatles classic gently floated into his mind - _Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it seems as though they're here to stay…_

That brought to mind Foggy, who, by the strangest happenstance, stumbled onto his secret.

* * *

_To Matt's ears, the knocking on his front door sounded like cannon fire._

Couldn't anyone get a decent night's sleep?

_He slowly began to realize that he had been unable to drift off because of voices, traffic, and numerous other sound waves that crashed against his eardrums, none of which he should have been able to hear. It was only then that it dawned on him that he was not in his sensory deprivation tank._

_Matt struggled to keep his eyes open. He felt a little disoriented for a minute. But everything came back to him… the battle with the Owl…_

_Leland Owlsley had once been a successful financial investor, nicknamed "The Owl of Wall Street" for his financial wisdom. That is, until the IRS exposed him with his criminal connections a few years ago. _

_Throughout the years Leland, now known as the Owl, turned to crime and now was great crimelord. Matt had fought him on several occasions, and had gotten to be a formidable foe. He used serum, which enabled him to fly short distances as well as other mutations to the point he was more animal-like, and it affected his sanity. His bones were hollow and had greater muscle mass than a normal human's. His eyesight and hearing were acute to a superhuman level. But the key things Matt had learned about the Owl was his criminal mastermind and his shrewd tactical intellect._

_Even most of the Owl's weapons were bird-based. One of the weapons being were a set of metal talons that were on each wrist. Some of his other bird-themed weapons were things like a cape that was designed to resemble an owl's outstretched wings that helped him glade through the air._

_But now, the Owl was establishing his presence in the criminal underworld even more with the absence of the Kingpin. No doubt to try to become the next "Kingpin of Crime". What galled Matt was the Owl had never been caught for all his criminal activities._

_He thought of getting out of bed and making his way over to the bathroom, where relief awaited him in the form of Demerol. God only knew how much he needed after the night he had…_

_The knocking came again. Matt could tell immediately that it was Foggy. The heartbeat and the scent were dead giveaways. And whatever he wanted, he was not going to go away. Matt raised his eyebrows; Foggy's heartbeat seemed faster then usual._

_His hand brushed his leg, he felt the slick touch of leather pants. Matt frowned. He _always_ removed his suit after a mission. But he could not remember anything that happened the night before, other than the beating he had taken from the Owl._

_He could still smell his own clotting blood, feeling the bruises on his body. Which meant that he must have gotten home, taken the Demerol, fallen onto a bed he rarely used and passed out._

_Matt felt the ache from the bruises on his face. How was he going to explain _that_ to Foggy? He could only use 'walked into a door' so many times. Knowing Foggy for as long as he had, he was certain his portly partner would bring up the seeing-eye dog issue again. _

_Donning a robe along with his sunglasses, Matt nearly tripped over his jacket and boots, both of which were still on the floor. He must have _really_ been out of it last night. He quickly hid them before making his way to the foyer._

_"Foggy? Come in. What are you doing here so early?" Matt asked in surprise as he opened his front door. His partner almost never came to visit at least not in the morning, and they would usually meet in the morning for coffee (or tea) at the café._

_"I found something important about the Castle case," Foggy answered, as he stepped through the doorway. His voice held tenseness in it. _

_"And this couldn't have waited until I got to the office?" Matt moved toward the living room, but once there he remained standing so that his partner would not know how much pain he was in. The robe was rubbing against the claw marks on his arm. __It stung something fierce._

_"Yeah, but that's not the reason I'm here." Foggy started to pace back and forth across the room, and wreaked havoc on Matt's senses in the process. Foggy's footsteps sounded like boulders falling; his heartbeat sounded like distant thunder that was not so distant._

_"Why don't you sit down for a while and take a load off your feet?" Matt queried his partner._

_That seemed to snap Foggy out of whatever was bothering him, but only for a moment. "No. Dammit, I still can't believe this." Thankfully, he had stopped pacing, but his heart was beating faster. "Why did you do it, Matt?"_

_Now Matt was confused. "Do what?"_

_"Lie to me through both sides of your mouth all these years. How could you sit there and tell me with a straight face that Daredevil doesn't exist?" he asked, his tone betraying feelings of tremendous hurt and anger. "All this time you kept telling me I was crazy, but I wasn't now, was I? And I believed you. I trusted you. You made a complete fool out of me, in public no less." _

How could he even… _Matt could not even begin to wonder. "Foggy, I-"_

_"Don't even try to deny it!"_

_"How could you even know?"_

_"When I came over here earlier, the door was open. I found you lying on the bed, half in and half out of your costume... You looked like you'd been in a gang fight. The only reason I left without calling 911 was that you were still breathing. And as pissed as I am, I just left you alone to sleep for a couple of hours so that I could get a straight answer out of you when I came back."_

_Matt gazed silently at the floor for what seemed like an eternity._

_"Well, counselor?" Foggy's voice was thick with an edgy sarcasm that Matt had never heard before._

_"The Defense rests," was all Matt had to say. There was nothing else for it. Foggy had been more than just his law partner. They had been close friends since they first roomed together as freshmen at Columbia. Even with all his foibles, Foggy Nelson was the one person he could count on more than anyone or anything else in the world._

_"So Matt, how in the hell do you do it?"_

_"Pretty far-out, huh?" Matt gave his friend a half smile, though there was hardly anything humorous about Foggy's discovery of his other life. The bruises made him wince in pain._

_"Are you really blind, or was that just an act you've been putting on all these years?"_

_"It's a long story."_

_"We have time," Foggy stated as he finally sat down._

_"Well, I guess you could say it started right after I lost my eyesight…"_

* * *

…Foggy would keep his secret to the grave…

"_…a Honda Civic heading south on Ninth Avenue heading toward 53rd Street."_ Matt was brought out of his reverie by the police dispatch that was two blocks away. "_…we have a stolen vehicle… suspect believed to be involved in armed robbery of Klein Jewelers at the corner of 72rd and Madison Avenue…_"

Running at breakneck speed, Daredevil jumped from one rooftop to the next one. Not once did he stop to think about the thirty-story drop he would have to deal with if he missed; that's why his billy club had a built-in zipline.

He was just about to close in on his quarry when suddenly he sensed an extremely fast-moving object heading toward the car from the opposite direction. Looking up, he saw what looked like a man hurtling between the buildings with nothing keeping him aloft but extremely thin, barely visible threads.

The other man flipped in mid-air before coming to a stop on the wall of an office building overlooking the street corner. He appeared to be clinging to the stone surface with nothing but his fingertips. He could not have been more than fifteen feet from the gargoyle around which Daredevil's own zipline was wrapped.

"I'm going to take a wild guess here…" The strange man was addressing him. "You're either the legendary Daredevil - though no one's seen a picture of you – or someone forgot to tell you that Halloween's over."

Daredevil knew who the man was before he opened his mouth. As far as he was concerned, the wallcrawler was not making a good first impression. "I don't think it's any of your concern, Spider-Man."

"You know who I am?" Spider-Man asked.

"Your reputation precedes you."

Spider-Man was ready with a quick comeback. "So does yours." In the next instant, though, his demeanor turned serious. "There's a police chase that went by here, did you happen to see where they went?"

Daredevil hoped that Spider-Man was not referring to the same chase he had been following. "They're going down Ninth," he answered but continued with, "But leave that guy to me."

"We'll just see who catches him first!" Not bothering to wait around for a reply, Spider-Man fired a webline and swung away to continue his pursuit.

Daredevil made no move to stop him or continue the chase himself. And for good reason – a woman's scream suddenly split the air. Another attempted rape… one more than he was willing to tolerate in his neighborhood; he would not let this lady become another victim.

He did make it in time, but only just. He let the guy have it, and could have easily beaten him to within an inch of his life. But Daredevil kept himself in check. He had learned that lesson well, when he had that "behavioral-modification" session with that drunken father, right in front of his son. The image of that boy cowering in fear from _him_, and not his father – that image had stayed with him, seared into his memory. Would the woman react the same way?

Sure enough, when he made his way over to the woman to make sure she was okay, she shrank away from him. "Don't touch me!"

Holding out his hands so she could see them, he stepped back a little. "It's okay, I won't harm you. And he," Daredevil nudged the guy with his boot, "won't be able to harm you."

The woman, who seemed very young, let out a sob. Her dress was torn, but it seemed mostly in one piece. Luckily a police car was coming down the street, and the woman ran down that way to wave them down while he made himself scarce.

Daredevil listened to see if there was any other trouble. Detecting none, he headed home.

His mind went back to Spider-Man. Matt's extraordinarily heightened senses enabled him to get beyond his first impressions far more quickly than people with perfect vision. In the few seconds during which they had come into contact with each other, Matt had determined that Spider-Man was about twenty years of age and five foot seven inches tall. From the deep, steady pounding of Spider-Man's heart, he knew the man as was in superb physical condition – as natural an athlete as one could find. Matt was deep in thought as his feet touched the roof of his brownstone. He spun the combinations on the multiple locks to let himself inside.

Maybe he should be thankful for small favors, guarding the streets had not been completely bad tonight. Well, bad physically. Emotionally? His day had sucked. And that run in with Spider-Man had not been on his 'to do list' today.

The police never gave a second thought to trying to arrest Spider-Man for the numerous crimes that he had been accused of committing, with murder at the top of the list…

The media on the other hand, either praised or tolerated Spider-Man, who was in the papers almost daily. The only one that disparaged his name on their front page was the _Daily Bugle_. Or so Foggy had said.

_W__ould Spider-Man deliberately cause everything the _Bugle_ accuses him of? He seems to be more a hell-raiser and glory hound…_

Matt did not have an answer to his question. He was used to keeping to the shadows; he did not want to be in the papers. But of course heroes like Spider-Man wanted the spotlight for themselves… Like when he was presented with the key to the city a few months ago. But with any luck, he would not have another run in with the wallcrawler anytime soon.

_A shower and some sleep is what I need now, _Matt thought with a weary sigh as he removed his mask.

Fifteen minutes later, showered, dressed in sweats, and with a towel drying his hair, Matt made it up to his main floor of his apartment. He paused by the answering machine - it was alerting him that he had a message. Pressing 'play' he listened to the it.

"_Matt,_" came Foggy's voice. "_We got a call from our alma mater. Apparently their letter got lost in the mail or something. Anyway, Professor Robinson wants us to be guest speakers in his advanced trial advocacy seminar. If you have 'other' things keeping you busy tonight, we'll talk tomorrow at the café_."

Matt did not have to think it over too much. He always enjoyed going back to Columbia Law School. He hoped that his story about the blind kid from Hell's Kitchen making it as an attorney would inspire more law students to take up pro bono work rather than become pawns of corporate America, as most were wont to do.

_Oh, Foggy is going to love that,_ Matt thought, and his mouth turned up in a smile.

* * *

Notes: I'm also working on a side story on John Jameson and Gwen Stacy called _Table for Two_. The fic will be set during this story and follow it slightly. I have the first chapter up, though timeline-wise it hasn't happened in this story yet, but I'll make note in the coming chapters when Table for Two chapters coincide with these chapters.

Information about the Owl is directly from Wikipedia.

Foggy's finding out Matt is Daredevil was based off the _Amazing Spider-Man_ Vol 2 #35 & #38 by J. Michael Straczynski. At the very end of ASM 35, Peter's aunt May finds out he is Spider-Man when he is sleeping and his Spider-Man costume is on the floor. Some of the idea also come from the actual comic were Foggy did find out in Daredevil from Vol 1 in issues 347 & 348 by J. M. Dematteis. Thanks for mentioning it, Barbara (as well as getting me hooked on comics)!

Thanks for reading, please review. _**Jenn**_


	3. Chapter Two: The Project

Please note, that I made changes to this chapter.

I meant to say this in the first chapter, but thank you so much to everyone for the reviews and the alerts to the fic.

* * *

_Chapter Two _

**The Project**

* * *

Jogging so quickly across campus that he was practically running, Peter figured that he would be lucky to catch the last ten minutes of class. At times like this, he wondered why he even bothered.

Peter had woken up late that morning, feeling as if he were hung over. He had been out half the night chasing down thieves and stopping a guy who had wanted to give his ex-girlfriend a holiday gift by ending it all. And if that were not enough, some clown tried to run off with a Salvation Army Santa's pot of money.

_The nerve of some people,_ Peter muttered under his breath, _Here I thought Christmas was supposed to be about peace on earth and good will toward men._

Yet, he knew he had little cause to complain. His life was finally on track. Things couldn't be better with Mary Jane; after so many years of unrequited love, heartaches, and crises, they were a couple who could be open about everything.

Peter couldn't help but smile at thought of his girlfriend. And as much as he wanted to marry M.J., he knew how critical it was to repair the foundations of their relationship, which had been sorely tried in the weeks leading up to Harry Osborn's tragic death.

_She should be hearing from her agent any day now,_ he thought. Mary Jane had noticed auditions for the revival of a Broadway musical that was going to come out in the spring. Peter genuinely encouraged her to try out, after all, what did she have to lose? It was a risk on her part, sure, but Peter knew if the director had any sense in his head he would cast her.

But right now with Christmas barely a week away, they were going to spend the holidays with Mary Jane's mother, whose cancer was in remission after seven grueling rounds of chemotherapy.

Aunt May would not be with them this year. She would be on a trip to up state New York to care for her niece Linda Brown, who was very ill. It would be their first Christmas apart since he was a small boy. She hadn't wanted to miss Christmas with Peter and Mary Jane, nor pass up the chance to visit Ben's grave on Christmas morning. Peter assured her that he and Mary Jane would be fine and told her to go and have take good care of Linda, promising that he would put flowers on his uncle's grave at the appointed time.

Peter bolted into the Science wing at Columbia University and peered into Professor Connors' empty classroom. He had missed the entire class, something he had not done in a while. He headed over to Dr. Connors' office, figuring that he might as well take his dressing-down like a man.

He knocked tentatively on the door.

There was no answer, mustering his courage, he knocked a little louder.

"It's open," Connors called out.

The professor's expression did not change when he saw who was standing in his doorway.

"Parker," Connors acknowledged without so much as a nod. Was Peter imagining it, or was his mentor's tone laced with irritation?

"I'm sorry that I-"

Connors cut him off. "You missed class. Don't worry about it."

With a barely audible sigh of relief, Peter remembered that he class was an optional review session for the final exam that would be given the next day. Since he already knew the material, he did not have to be there.

Professor Connors put down the paper he was looking at. "I had wanted to discuss something with you today."

"What is that?" Peter wanted to know.

"I'm sure you've heard of Tony Stark."

"Who hasn't?" Peter had trouble containing his enthusiasm at the mere mention of Tony Stark's name. Stark, like his father before him, was a high-tech entrepreneur who had amassed a huge fortune designing and building defense systems for the United States military. His reputation was world class, or had been until a freak accident in Afghanistan a few years back. Peter supposed Stark's near-death experience and time in captivity made the billionaire entrepreneur turn over a new leaf. He had sold off the defense contracting division of his firm and had funneled millions into humanitarian and charitable causes. One of them was the Maria Stark Foundation, after Stark's mother, that was based right in New York. He also changed the name of his base company in LA from Stark Industries to Stark International, leaving no doubt of his intention to play ball in the global business arena.

But his enthusiasm dimmed slightly. Peter knew that Stark wasn't _only_ a businessman-

"Then you know of him? Good. I would like you to be my research assistant on a project that Stark International is sponsoring."

"Your assistant?" Peter let his mind get back to the matter at hand. He could not believe his ears. This was going to be big; it had to be, with Stark's backing.

"Yes." Connors gave him a hard look. "I want you to consider my offer very seriously, Peter. This is groundbreaking work, Peter, a chance to do pioneering research in a promising field. But understand this - there's big money involved here. There'll be meetings and progress reports. If you're going to come aboard, I expect you make this project your top priority, outside of your regular classes. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Peter could barely contain his excitement. This was the opportunity that he been waiting his whole life for; the chance to work on the cutting edge of science and technology and to have his contributions recognized. But he understood, in no uncertain terms, that he was in the big leagues now, and his excuses would not be tolerated. If he was late to a single meeting, Connors would throw him off the project in a heartbeat. He had to reshuffle his priorities, and fast.

He just hoped that Spider-Man understood Connors' message as clearly as he did.

"Good." Connors continued. "You'll get college credit for this, as well as being paid a research stipend, of course. You'll have to sign a confidentiality agreement and submit to a background check."

Peter's heart felt like it had momentarily stopped beating. _A background check? How the hell can I let anyone do a background check on me…? _"Um, I'll need a few days to think it over," he said, as his customary sense of caution overtook his initial excitement.

"Of course. You can give me your decision after finals unless you need to wait until after the holidays, but the sooner the better."

"I'll do that. And thank you for the offer, Dr. Connors."

Peter left Connors' office and wandered through the science wing, lost in his own thoughts, pondering the pros and cons of the professor's offer. If he took the internship, he would have to give up his full-time job as a staff photojournalist at the _Daily Bugle_, a job that had taken him nearly three years to get. Not only would he have to take a drastic pay cut, but he would once again be without benefits.

There were other concerns as well, beginning with the scruples and integrity of Tony Stark. He was larger than life, a celebrity, not to mention one of the world's richest men. But he also had a reputation for being a shark at the negotiating table. There were also stories about drinking and womanizing. Most of these stories had come from the _Daily Bugle_ and other tabloids years ago. He seemed to have rehabilitated himself, at least in the minds of the public.

But there was the matter of Iron Man. Shortly after returning to the United States, Stark had constructed an incredibly powerful suit of armor that boasted an incredible array of built-in weapons systems as well as flight capability. But what no one had known, at least not until Stark held a press conference only mere days after Iron Man's first and only battle with Iron Monger that Tony Stark _himself_ was the man in the tin suit.

Peter harbored a great deal of skepticism about the world knowing Tony Stark was Iron Man. Sure, by taking down Iron Monger, he was definitely contributing to the greater good of society. Peter knew that Stark most likely would be coming to check on Connors' and Peter's progress. That is, if Peter took the job. But it wasn't only that, Peter didn't know if Stark would act as Iron Man while here in New York. Unlike Peter, Stark had been to different parts of the country - no, the world - as his alias. Peter himself had not been outside of New York. And also, no matter how much good Peter had accomplished, Spider-Man was still considered a vigilante.

_But with Stark in New York..._ Peter thought._ Hey, wait a second… Maybe if I went to him, he could make a better suit for me…_ He laughed that thought off, imagining himself showing up at Stark's offices whenever he was in town and saying something like, _"Hi, Mr. Stark, I was wondering if you could build me a new Spider-Man suit, something that won't get torn to shreds every time I go into battle…" No doubt, he'd call the cops. Or take me on himself..._

Another thought occurred to him. He was not the only hero in New York, although there were times when he felt like it. There was Daredevil, with whom he had just had his first encounter…

Suddenly Peter noticed something strange.

The lights were on in Professor Warren's lab. He knew right away that something was amiss because the labs were normally closed during finals week.

But what he saw when he opened the door was an even bigger surprise. Two boys, teenagers from the looks of them, were sitting at one of the lab benches, hunched over what looked like a chemistry experiment. One of the boys was pouring a clear yellow liquid into a beaker.

"What…?" Peter never got to finish his question. His spider-sense flashed red as the white, powdery substance inside the beaker turned dark brown and began to erupt.

There was no time to even shout a warning. Hurtling toward the boys like a missile, he scooped them right off their stools and drove them toward the wall, away from the impending explosion. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. While shielding the boys with his body, he reached up to grab the extinguisher.

In so doing, he had inadvertently turned his face back toward the rapidly failing experiment, a catastrophic mistake on his part.

His spider-sense began to go off like an alarm, but he didn't need to know just from his 'sense' that the mixture of chemicals the two juvenile _experts_ were putting together was about to burst.

The beaker exploded. Shards of glass and blobs of a lava-like material flew everywhere. As fast as Peter's reflexes were, the presence of the boys made it impossible to shield himself without exposing them to danger.

He screamed in shock and pain as he took a direct hit in the face.

He could hear the boys yelling behind him. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

"But we can't just-"

"Come on, dammit. Move!"

Fighting through excruciating pain to maintain awareness of his surroundings, Peter heard the sound of receding footsteps, a door slamming shut, and then silence. He was alone, and in desperate need of medical attention.

Getting up slowly and painfully, Peter kept his eyes covered with his hands. Opening them would be unbearable.

Despite the horrendous agony caused by cuts and chemical burns, Peter managed to drag himself into the corridor. From having had most of his classes here, he knew the layout of the building like the back of his hand. The first thing he thought of was the restroom about halfway down the corridor, about thirty feet from the lab.

Once he was inside the restroom, he felt for the sink. Turning on the spigot, he plunged his hands under the stream of cold water and splashed his face, taking care not to touch the fragments of glass that had plunged into the skin around his eyes.

Slowly, carefully, Peter opened his eyes, but all he could see was blackness. It was as if he hadn't opened them at all.

His heart started racing. Surely-?

_No time to panic… Think!_

Peter knew he couldn't handle this on his own. He'd have to get help somewhere. Which meant he had to get to the hospital. But if he did that…

But he couldn't do that! They would-

_Oh no…_

Feeling his way around, he locked himself in one of the stalls.

With shaking hands he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. He heard glass fall, and felt small shards bite into his hands. He had been lucky that he did not take a direct hit in his eyes, although they were still burning from the fumes caused by the explosion.

And he still could not see…

He had to get his costume off; he was under no illusions about that. Usually, he could have it on and off in seconds, but now it must have taken him at least five minutes to get his clothes off. Breathing shallowly and gritting his teeth to keep from being overwhelmed, he slowly divested himself of the red and blue… first the top, then the pants. Then redressed back into his street clothes. Twice, he was nearly overcome by a wave of nausea.

Peter picked his costume off the floor and, with great difficulty, stepped out of the stall. Feeling his way around the restroom, he eventually found the trashcan near the door. Though a painful haze, he dimly recalled that his gloves and mask were in his coat pockets. The trashcan was the last place he wanted to put his costume, but he was injured and had to get to a doctor fast.

With utmost reluctance, he pushed aside the receptacle's cover.

Suddenly, the door to the restroom opened.

* * *

Edited: The information I've got on Tony Stark is what I've watched on the film and read on the comics.

Also note the timeline has changed slightly.

Thanks for reading, please review. _Jenn_


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